“It is a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.” — George Orwell

In Sunday’s newspaper, Comrade John Nichols invokes the holy names of Old Fighting Bob and Wild Bill Evjue by way of establishing that, once upon a time, The Capital Times actually defended free speech. That time being World War 1, an even 100 years ago.

Lately, not so much.

The Capital Times remained silent in the 1990s when UW-Madison chancellor Donna Shalala imposed speech codes that civil libertarians like Alan Dershowitz cited as among the most punitive in the nation.

“Your Progressive Voice” was mum when anonymous speech complaint boxes were posted around campus a little bit later. Not at UW-Madison would the accused be afforded the right to confront his accuser.

The Democratic party organ practiced omerta when death threats were issued against the young Republican woman who booked David Horowitz on campus in 2007 to speak about the mistreatment of women in Moslem countries. The university sent her a bill for the cost of the body guard it assigned her.

Within the past few months, protestors stopped Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking at UC-Berkeley; disrupted Ben Shapiro at Wisconsin; roughed up a faculty member attending to Charles Murray’s appearance at Middlebury; and stopped Heather MacDonald at Claremont-McKenna College.

The Capital Times yawned. It had too much invested in identity politics, grievances, class consciousness, and the Trump Resistance to chastise its cadres who were making revolution in the streets and lecture halls.

Wisconsin Republicans, he says, want to “restrict discourse on UW campuses — and to punish students who exercise their right to dissent in ways that do not please.”

Exactly what “ways do not please” the state reps? Let’s go to the text: Senate Bill 250 would penalize “violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, obscene, unreasonably loud, or other disorderly conduct that interferes with the free expression of others.”

If “violent and abusive” displeases Republicans, is it pleasing to Nichols? We can quibble with “profane” niggle over “boisterous” and try to define “obscene” but the nexus is that “conduct that interferes with the free expression of others.”

Supporters of the legislation, Nichols spins, “suggest that it will protect fragile conservative speakers from interruptions by fact-wielding students.”

But the young people who harassed conservative author Ben Shapiro on Nov. 17 wielded no facts — unless facts be nothing more than sloganeering and rhyming chants.

Protestors repeatedly interrupt[ed] Shapiro’s speech yelling the words “shame” and “safety.” Tensions came to a head when protesters formed a line in front of the stage … and repeated their “safety” chant.

That’s the fact, Jack … I mean, John.

Blaska’s Bottom Line — The Capital Times could have excoriated the speech thugs then and now, here in Madison and in Berkeley. Instead, it looked the other way and, by so doing, tacitly encouraged the heckler’s veto. They were, after all, following The Capital Times’ playbook. No enemies on the Left. By any means necessary. Fail at the ballot box, flail in the streets.

Now, by excusing the disrupters and opposing the Campus Free Speech Act, Nichols and The Capital Times have shown their hand.

Who would be the arbiter of what constitutes conduct that interferes with the free expression of others? Liberal Dane Co judges? They’ll find that Ben Shapiro stepping off a plane in Dane Co would be enough to find him guilty because he is here to espouse nothing but hate speech. I can see any action based on SB250 going to the Supreme Court.

Here’s a practical suggestion. The University could require all campus speakers (i.e., those sponsored by recognized student organizations) to include a question-and-answer period at the end of their presentation (based on my observation, most already do). This would provide ample opportunity for critics of a speaker’s position to voice their objections. Anyone who interrupts a speaker or causes a presentation to be delayed would be subject to arrest (assuming the UW police have been trained to do anything besides look on benignly as protesters air their grievances in any way they deem fit).

Funny that Nichols mocks conservatives as being too “fragile” to withstand criticism. The Cap Times eliminated the comment sections in the entire paper because it turned into THE place for conservatives to vent and criticize their looney ideas, and it just plain pissed them off. What wimps.

Asking for a friend

Mike Huckabee asks: What would a federal judge do if Jim Acosta challenged him in his courtroom, argued and refused to give up the microphone when a bailiff tried to retrieve it?

Unmet needs?

‘Got anything for us?’

MidTown 8:25 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18 — Officers met with a victim (26-year-old AAM) who reported being approached by two AAMs, one AAF and one WF (possibly all juveniles) as he was waiting for a bus. The victim stated the “juveniles” asked him if he had anything for them. The victim said he referred to them as “kids” which caused the two AAM’s to batter him. The suspects fled. The victim sustained visible injuries, including a chipped tooth.

Someone (could) DID get hurt like this!

11:35 p.m. Nov. 17 — A Fitchburg police officer spotted a Subaru Forrester that was listed as stolen through MPD. The vehicle took off when a stop was initiated. The vehicle ended up crashing into an unoccupied house near Allied Dr, located within the City of Madison. The house sustained heavy damage and the vehicle was totaled. All three occupants were transported to the hospital.

The suspect driver was a 16-year-old AAM, whose injuries were unknown at the time of this entry. A 14-year-old AAF passenger sustained a broken arm. A 14-year-old AAM passenger had a fractured/dislocated hip and will be admitted for surgery. Fitchburg PD took the vehicle for evidence in their investigation and MPD took the crash investigation.

Even MORE school-to-prison at La Follette H.S.

Friday’s Disturbance — 3:44 pm. Nov. 16 — The La Follette High School Educational Resource Officer was outside monitoring students when a suspect (30-year-old AAF) began yelling threats from the street at school staff. The suspect’s daughter (14-year-old AAF) threw a water bottle at a group of students in front of the school and then fled with her mother in a vehicle. Officers performed a traffic stop on the vehicle and while officers attempted to detain the suspects, an additional passenger/suspect (16-year-old AAF) was arrested for interfering. The 30-year-old suspect was conveyed to the Dane County Jail while the teenagers were cited for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Tuesday’s disturbance — 9:55 a.m. Nov. 13 — School Resource Officer (SRO) at La Follette High School asked for additional resources as a disturbance was breaking out in the commons area of the school.